MIAMI (November 23, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team got back on the winning track on Wednesday night with an 89-72 victory over Ave Maria on Lime Court at FIU Arena. The Panthers improve to 2-4 on the year while Ave Maria drops to 2-5.

Donte McGill led four FIU players in double figures with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, 3-of-4 from behind the three-point arc and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Elmo Stephen chipped in with a career-high 20 points, while Richard Bivens added a career-best 13 points and Anthony Boswell had 10 points in the win.

McGill and Stephen's 20-point performances marked the first time since Feb. 18, 2016 at North Texas that two FIU players netted 20 or more points in a single game. McGill and former Panthers' standout Adrian Diaz and McGill recorded 21 and 23 points against the Mean Green, respectively.

Stephen and Eric Nottage each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

FIU blew a close game open in the second half. After leading by two points, 47-45, with 13:33 left in the contest, the Panthers put together a 22-7 run in back of four combined treys by Stephen (2) and Boswell (2). Boswell's three with 9:02 left put FIU up 17, 69-52, with 9:02 left in the contest.

The Panthers did not look back the rest of the way, as the Gyrenes did not get closer than 11 points for the remainder of the contest.

The Panthers finished the night shooting 58.6 percent (34-of-58) from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from behind the three-point line. The Panthers' shooting performance from the field was their best since hitting 60.4 percent (32-of-53) from the floor against Arkansas State on Nov. 29, 2012.

FIU returns to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Nov. 27 to close out its short two-game homestand against Binghamton at 7 p.m. The current home stretch precedes three-straight on the road, with stops at Elon (Nov. 30, 7 p.m.), South Carolina (Dec. 4, 2 p.m.) and Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 11, 8:15 p.m.). The Panthers will not return home until they begin a season-long five-game stretch at FIU Arena, starting on Dec. 15 against Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.

Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUHoops on Twitter, and "Like" FIU men's basketball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUMensBBall) for the latest Panther basketball news.

Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).

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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and at the FIU Football Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.